It took six months, but the ailing San Carlos School District finally got its parcel tax.

The district’s all-mail election for Measure B came to a close Tuesday, and the ballot initiative for the $78 per parcel tax passed convincingly.

According to semi-official results posted Tuesday night by the San Mateo County Elections Office, 71.2 percent of voters voted yes on Measure B, with all 24 precincts reporting. The parcel tax needed support from two-thirds of voters to pass.

Measure B’s success comes on the heels of a similar parcel tax measure that failed by a single percentage point in November.

“The loss last time was so hard; I am thrilled,” School Board President Carrie Du Bois said. “It’s a combination of the community really stepping up and leading and more people being aware of the realties of the state budget cuts.”

As of Tuesday night, 5,746 residents voted in favor of Measure B while 2,324 community members cast ballots against the initiative. The district has 17,003 potential voters.

Election officials said they will post updated results on Friday that will include last-minute and provisional ballots. Voters had until 8 p.m. on Tuesday to drop off ballots; results were posted five minutes later.

The measure taxes San Carlos property owners $78 more annually for six years. Seniors ages 65 and older can seek exemption. The district’s current $110 parcel tax will sunset in 2011.

Measure B will generate $800,000 per year for the district, which is facing $2 million in budget cuts next school year. In March the district issued pink slips to about two dozen certificated employees, including teachers, and warned about 16 to 20 part-time and full-time personnel would likely be laid off if the measure failed.

Superintendent Steve Mitrovich said budget cuts, including the possibility of some layoffs, will still be necessary even with the new revenue.

The district’s board of education will meet Thursday to discuss next school year’s budget and decide whether to lay off any certificated employees.

“It doesn’t put me completely at ease,” said Brittan Acres teacher Jessica Melton, who got her pink slip in March. “But I think that with this money it can help just regular programs like literacy and counseling and things like that.”

The vote ends two months of campaigning by parents, teachers and even students who passed out lawn signs, held rallies and formed a “Yes on B” movement. No opposing group was formed.

Despite the final margin, the tax was far from a given.

“Honestly I thought given the current economy that it would have been a struggle to pass,” said Chris Mahoney, director of the district’s Charter Learning Center. “It just makes the city more desirable; people want to move to San Carlos because we take care of our kids.”

The San Carlos measure was one of three San Mateo County school parcel tax initiatives on the all-mail ballot.

Measure C, a Woodside School District parcel tax, appears to have passed. It received 74.8 percent of the vote as of Tuesday night. The $242 parcel tax, which needed two-thirds voter approval, replaces the district’s expiring $233 tax.

Measure A, an $85 per parcel tax from the Jefferson Elementary School District, had received only 57.9 percent of the vote as of Tuesday night, and appeared to be short of its two-thirds approval requirement.